Big_Stu

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1356725913' post='1913028']....... wind down the window and shout profanities while repeatedly blasting the horn. This will undoubtedly have the desired effect ie. cyclist wobbles about a bit then falls off, enabling the motorist to safely manoeuvre around unmounted cyclist, and all the time keeping well within local speed limits. [/quote] why is it two hours since this was written and yet still no reply from a BC cyclist saying, "if any driver tried that with me.........." (cont. P94)??

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356716427' post='1912910']I don't drive if I've had a single pint either.[/quote] No? Well, who ever just has a single pint? What do you wait for, after the fourth? fifth? [quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356716427' post='1912910']Nor have I ever driven under the influence of the vast amounts of prohibited drugs I used to take. Just because someone likes to get shitfaced it doesn't mean they are inconsiderate towards others.[/quote] Very commendable; problem is - as already stated is that national laws have to be blanket coverage. The laws can't account for those who aren't stupid about it, they're aimed at those who are. Maybe you could propose a local by-law for those parts of your city where you & your mates live, that smoking cannabis is OK because you won't drive after doing so.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356715050' post='1912889'] I agree. How many people last year were killed by sober drivers? We should ban driving, it ruins lives. How many people were killed last year by drivers who were high on magic mushrooms? If it's none then let's go ahead and legalise them.[/quote] Yeah, but they're crafty that way. If you did that the economy would collapse (yeah yeah I had noticed), so what they do instead is make it illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs - not even illegal drugs. Gets you all ways, but I'm told it's not as bad as being the parent or child of a victim who'se just had their life torn apart from someone being selfish or inconsiderate in their actions [quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356715069' post='1912890'] Well of course that was what I was asking...sheesh. I realise now that I must have confused you by using the phrase 'criminalised' rather than 'illegal. Perhaps you have been drinking.[/quote] No, no yet today. Wrong time of year and all that. But I do have my own policy of "not a drop" if I am driving, always have since the day I passed my test.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1356714932' post='1912887'] Problem with [i]Holier than thou[/i] posters on a forum is that nobody [i]actually knows[/i] the poster. So when someone says that they have never 'intentionally' broken the speed limit (how does that work?), or have never been drunk and disorderly, smoked a [i]rock 'n' roll riff[/i] , parked on yellow lines, engaged in fisticuffs, how are we to know if that is actually the case? In a normal face to face discussion the [i]holier than thou [/i]participant's wife/partner/friend will often seize the opportunity to say, "Yeah, but what about that time when you..." ensuring the aforementioned [i]holier than thou[/i] participant received a good egg facing. I'll wager I'm a more law abiding citizen than all of you put together ... paragon of virtue, me!.. prove me wrong [/quote] I know - can't stand the type - get on my nerves - only thing worse is a stoner boring you shitless after a gig when you can't escape from them. In those cases, like all others you just have to take their word for it, problem is that on a public forum where few folk can actually personally know each other you don't really get the chance to find out for gospel. edit: nor really does anyone have the right to ask, you have to wait until it's volunteered - if it ever is. In your first, for eg, it [i]may[/i] be that they guy was driving along at the limit with a bloody big line of cars behind him. Even if he wanted to go faster he couldn't because of a fat bloke wobbling about on a push-bike in front of him, so when the driver does get the chance to stab the gas just to get round the bike he looks up just in time to see a speed camera in the back of a van, bugger! Still I heard you can do a speed awareness course for about £70 for that kind of scenario where they'll happiliy tell you that what you should have done is stay where you were no matter how many miles the cyclist went on for. Could also be that the same guy does have a record for one occasion of ABH, which was previously discussed on this forum years ago - for all we know.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1356714513' post='1912877'] It just amazes me that at a time when we should be tightening alcohol laws, some people are advocating loosening drug laws. [/quote] But but, but they are! They're going to have a minimum unit price for alcohol. That'll do wonders for the pubs that they closed due to the smoking ban; while the ones left can now open whenever they want to be empty for even longer. Weatherspoons reckon they'll be opening another 40 pubs next year though; do they have live bands on? I can't remember ever seeing a band in a Weatherspoons.

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1356713545' post='1912857']My take is that i don't really care what substances people stick in themselves. Its up to them (if they are adults).[/quote] Me too, entirely - it's the effects, often fatal, on innocent strangers that are the truly unjust parts of it. Many laws are there for that reason.

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356713340' post='1912847'] Nah, sorry this still doesn't make sense. I stated that I sometimes smoke dope, which currently happens to be illegal. I questioned as to why the smoking of dope should be a criminal act, i.e. why should it be illegal, and your answer was that it's illegal. Guff. [/quote] And again, because you're struggling to take this in - you didn't. You asked why doing something illegal criminalises you. I replied that doing the former creates the latter, you become a criminal by doing illegal things. IF you're now asking instead, why it should be illegal to smoke dope then that's a whole different question. Only part of which can be answered by visiting various addicts of harder substances at various stages in various states of skintdom, or an A&E where a traffic accident victim is being treated due to someone driving under the influence, or a stopover hostel for recovering addicts (that was my own experience of 3+ years). That will then be countered by "Well it's not happened to me or anyone I know" which in a huge number of cases could have "yet" added to it. The bottom line is that you as a user who is comfortable with what you do - you don't sound overly concerned with the effect it may have on people around you, so you don't want to hear it, so you'll say whatever it takes to make you feel better. Police, courts and lawyers will have heard them all before, whether it's from a supplier or the guy (near me) who just nipped out for a MacD last week after he got the nibbles, who "thought he'd be safe" and was seen by a Panda to ram a stationary car. The fact is that what you do is illegal under current law.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356713221' post='1912844']So you have never broken the speed limit? I guess you don't have a driving license.[/quote] Not intentionally, no. Not everyone that uses this forum is a teenage kid, or someone who hasn't quite grown up yet.

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356712850' post='1912835']So you would obey any law then? You are the very model citizen.[/quote] I do my best, I'd sooner not be so sad as to do something illegal just for the sake of it. It's called social responsibility, parental responsibility and having better things to do. [quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356712850' post='1912835']No, I just know some other people who also smoke dope. I also know an awful lot of poeople who don't. I take it you don't therefore drink, given that you appear to be trying to take some kind of moral high ground here? Or do you not count alcohol as a drug?[/quote] Either you don't read too good, or you scanned over previous posts to get to the bit where you wanted to endorse what you do. I did say why - twice.

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356712078' post='1912817'] I smoke a little bit of dope now and then. Why should I be criminalised for that? What? It should be illegal because it's illegal? I was questioning the rational basis for the illegality of cannabis and that's your answer[/quote] But you didn't; you stated that you often commit an illegal act, why are you then a criminal. One generates the other, just as much as if you'd been going the wrong way down a one-way street, nicked a bottle of vodka out of Asda or robbed the crown jewels. Not any of them on a par with the other - but all illegal acts. [quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356712078' post='1912817']Even if the law is an ass? You would blindly obey ANY law? Really?[/quote] I obey any law that is relevant to my actions at that time and that which I am aware exists; it's as much as any responsible person does. With your attitude it's as well you didn't own a shop in the riots or have a job that replied on one of the destroyed ones. [quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356712078' post='1912817']But the majority of cannabis users that I have known are 'alright'.. sorry, but this is guff.[/quote] So you hang out with a gang of users & you take that as a general consensus for 60 million people? Seriously?

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1356710940' post='1912795'] I was in that store once, and once only. During the course of a short conversation he commented that the guitars he stocked were too good for the way people played these days (these days being the mid 90s). Seem to recall he made a few other such comments, as well as imply I wouldn't be a good enough guitarist to try any of his stock, even though he'd never heard me play. And also recall he had a Gretsch White Falcon in the window for years. [/quote] Yeah, that's the one, he used to get loads of stuff in that you just knew he'd been talked into by a sales rep.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356710355' post='1912779'] 'Some' being the overwhelming majority. Would you say more than half of the drivers you know have never broken the speed limit or parked illegally, for example? Apparently 1/3 of people over 16 in Britain have tried smoking cannabis, so I'd be surprised if anything other than a tiny fraction have never knowingly broken any laws at all. I think there are plenty of good people about, but I don't think any of them are entirely law-abiding. [/quote] You'll find that whatever statistics you used to state that "some" being a majority is flawed. That's why so many people want referendums on things. It's all an election is; it maybe doesn't work great most of the time but it's all we have. That's to say, it's better than Joe Bloggs saying he had a great spliff last week & this time didn't run anyone over while under the influence so let's make it legal. Similarly, "apparently 1/3 of 16 year olds etc etc" yeah, I'm sure - just like the adverts that "89% of women prefer X over Y" but then in the small print it says out of a survey of 117 women taken by ABC Pollsters. They mean nothing. They're weighted in favour of whatever point you want to make by asking the right question of the right people in the right area at the right time.

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1356709068' post='1912751'] Cannot believe these comments about Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding . They were an integral part of the sound of Hendrixs records and made a huge contribution to the enduring legacy of Hendrixs music . Noel took to playing the bass like a natural and played better than most other bassists of the era , and Mitch Mitchells agile drumming style acted as a foil to Hendrixs histrionics on the guitar . [/quote] I'd agree about Noel Redding, though I heard that he was very reluctant to pick up bass. Mitch Mitchell though? no way - his playing has often spoilt the pleasure of listening to Hendrix for me, he sometimes plays as though he's not aware of being at the same gig.

[quote name='Jayben' timestamp='1356709456' post='1912761'] I disagree, simply because everyone picks and chooses the laws they want to follow,[/quote] It's the use of the word "everyone" that is wrong. Not "everyone" does, just "some". The other point to consider is that not everyone knows all of the laws - even though ignorance of the law is not an excuse in law. So many may disobey laws out of ignorance of them, rather than willingly dis-obeying them or picking and choosing.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1356707874' post='1912729'] Nope. He is right. Everybody doesn't break the law willingly. I certainly don't bring up my children to break the law willingly. There is a difference between freedom and doing what ever you like whenever you like. If everybody just did whatever they liked, there would be anarchy. We set laws as an absolute standard that we expect people to behave to, not as guidelines.[/quote] Thank you; and exactly so. We are - despite Daily Mail pages to the contrary - in many ways fortunate to live here, the laws will never be to everyone's liking but they do try to cover as many as possible. If we were to ever have a Govt that promised a referendum - and stuck to that promise - my vote would be very much in favour of a total ban on all non-prescription drugs. Like some, and unlike others, I have no positive personal experience of drug use - only the abject misery they can cause. YVMV naturally.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356704929' post='1912661'] Nonsense. Some people picks and chooses which laws they agree with and intend to follow, and those which they think are pointless/frivolous/unreasonable/unfair and will break at will. [/quote] Fixed it for you, otherwise you wouldn't raise an eyebrow if you were broken into & robbed; mugged, or whatever else.

There used to be a Music Shop in Edinburgh next to the Usher Hall; it was owned & run by an old Polish guy who'd had it for donkey's years. He used to complain that it was always quiet, people weren't buying anything. One day I went in for strap buttons, & was told all his straps had buckles or clasps. I got the same answer to "strap studs". No matter how I tried to explain to him what I wanted he took it the wrong way. Eventually I pointed to them on a Strat he had, "aaah, he said, no - you can't buy them on their own, why would anyone need to replace those". The shop closed down a few months later.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1356703199' post='1912615'] I'm not sure that I could agree to these statements (in fact, I'm sure I couldn't...). I could easily imagine a fair number of circumstances where civil disobedience would be justified; at least to myself. I may be alone in this opinion, but, to me, my personal moral values and conscience outweigh massively (nay; absolutely...) any consideration of 'majority'. This does not mean, of course, that I am against any or all laws; simply that when there is a judgement call to be made, I decide with my own conscience; no-one and nothing else, whatever their numbers, take precedence. I have to assume, of course, any consequences of my decisions, and that's fine by me too.[/quote] I didn't say that that was the be all & end of it; I credit most posters on here as having the intelligence to be able to use a bit of interpretation without having to have an essay that covers all points but is ignored by most posters. The bit that becomes civilised is where it coincides with the general consensus of society. Even though there are probably hundreds - possibly thousands - of UK citizens who would encourage their actions recent months have seen the highlighting of the actions of one deceased now ex-celebrity who doubtless used his own personal values and tastes to do what he did - and possibly even saw no wrong. It's even been said that it was OK by the standards of the time. Different people have different values, a law that works has to cover as many viewpoints as possible, it would be impossible to cover them all.

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1356699689' post='1912554'] I smoke a little bit of dope now and then. Why should I be criminalised for that?[/quote] Because it's illegal. A civilised society doesn't pick & choose which laws it wants to follow or not. Isolated cases of "I'm alright" don't outweigh the cases of the majority.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1356622066' post='1911722']I've known very few recreational drug users who have become a burden to society - either on the NHS or through turning to crime to fund their habits.[/quote] Then you've been incredibly lucky - my own experience was massively in the opposite direction. In their case it's not about being a burden to society, it's about being a burden to themself to the point where self-destruction whether intended or not, is one of their better options, or feels that way.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1356697602' post='1912502']I believe licencing drugs isn't the way to go[/quote] Me neither, there's still a massive list of things which are made legally which have their kooky counter-part, which many buy just for the cheap thrill or because it's all they can afford. You can't cater for all the reasons folk do things....... and of course it'll be another list to be monitored by Big Brother.

That bloke with the animated eyebrow that was in that Scouse band, you know the one, plays a flimsy German violin shaped thing.

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1356626727' post='1911791'] Went into Nevada Music last week as it is my local shop and I'm looking for my next bass, luckily they had a 4003 this time and I asked to try it out and the first thing the guy said was, "You actually gonna buy something then?" I thought I'll let it slide as I can't really get elsewhere currently due to lack of transport. The guy ended up plugging me into an Ashdown Tour bus, so after I badgered him into letting me try it through a worthwhile amp, still out on the shop floor right next time their radio system so had some god awful feedback coming through I decided yes this is the bass I wanna buy but I don't want the mapleglo finish, so I hand the 4003 over to him and he instantly scanned it into the till and said how are you paying for it. I walked out and I am NEVER going to go back in there! Horrible shop, rubbish stock of a few Fenders, millions of ESPs and Ibanez basses with the occasional MM or Ric. Note to Nevada store guy, that is not how to give customer service and convince someone to buy from you! [/quote] You don't at any point mention what you actually said to him, such as instead of [i]letting it slide[/i], saying "Yeah, if I like it, but not in that colour"? Or did you say that when you handed it back? I've had good bad and indifferent service in many kind of shop, but it's a two way street. If you don't tell them what you're looking for & in what colour you could - to them - be just another Saturday afternoon widdler about to make a £1300+ bass into an ex-demo discounted item. [i]edit: This is just an obv in general, not just directed at you JamesBass just because I quoted you.[/i] Any shop I've used on a regular basis will know my name & I'll know some of theirs. If a newbie staff is a bit off I'll look through them at one I know & speak with them directly. If they're not available then make sure you're there at a time where you're not in a rush (you'd have to anyway to give an item a decent run through right?) & wait until one of them that you have got time for is available. The UK is notorious for bad customer service, so yes there are courses available for it which many no-hopers are being pushed into by this Govt. That won't improve matters though because you don't get much back in this country when an unqualified kid who doesn't want to be there, paid minimum wage - or less - is facing you.

Is it for a new breakfast cereal that has slap, travel & hop?

Marshall mug, Marshal T-shirt & the "Lemmy" DVD from No.1 son.